


Run With Me

by Pheylan



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Meet-Cute, Multi, amputee!Bucky, comic artist!Steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 23:03:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8943055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pheylan/pseuds/Pheylan
Summary: Steve Rogers thinks the one armed guy who moved to the neighborhood last winter is gorgeous.  Bucky Barnes thinks the blond Dorito he regularly sees at the gym is a hunk.  Now they just need a good reason to walk up and say Hi.  Cue asthma attack.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I love a well done Meet Cute and have been trying to come up with a decent one. This may be a little long to properly be called a Meet Cute, but I'm happy with it.
> 
> Thanks to the hubby for punctuation advise.
> 
> The Marvel characters are not mine, but all the mistakes are.

Mother Nature was trying to kill Steve Rogers.  Again.

Okay, it was probably (definitely) his own fault.  It was the first really nice day in what had turned into a really rainy spring and he was tired of being cooped up.  So, instead of going to the gym and running on a treadmill like he’d been doing since the weather turned cold last fall, he decided to head out to Prospect Park to enjoy the sunshine.  Unfortunately, that also meant running while every plant in the park was spewing pollen.

The asthma attack hit about 15 minutes into his run.  Steve immediately stumbled to a halt at the side of the foot path, trying desperately to pull in oxygen through his constricted airways.  It had been a few of months since the last time his asthma had flared up, but he was still in the habit of grabbing his inhaler on the way out of his apartment.  He fumbled in the pocket of his sweats trying to get it out.

“You okay, pal?”  Someone asked just as Steve got the medication out and promptly dropped it.  He shook his head and bent to grab the inhaler, but the other guy beat him to it – holding it up for Steve, but thankfully not trying to push it in his mouth.

Steve quickly took the inhaler and put it to use.  As he held his medication filled breath he focused on his would be hero.  The guy was almost as tall as Steve, with shaggy brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and a concerned look in his blue-grey eyes.  Steve didn’t have to look down at the empty left sleeve of his hoodie to recognize him.  They’d never actually met, but the guy probably lived in the neighborhood as Steve regularly saw him at the gym and other local businesses.

Steve let out his breath as his lungs eased up.

The other guy smiled and asked, “Better?”

“Yeah,” Steve answered.  “Thanks for…” he waved the inhaler vaguely.

“No prob.”  He hesitated a moment and then held out his hand.  “I’m Bucky.”

“Steve.”  The handshake was firm, but without any level of macho challenge to it.  “You work out at Dugan’s, right?”

“Yeah, usually,” Bucky replied.  “But it’s such a nice day, I decided to get my cardio out here instead.”

“Me, too,” Steve said with a grin.  “Probably should have used the inhaler before I started, though.  You can practically see the pollen in the air.”  He nodded toward the path.  “Shall we?”

“You’re all right to keep going?” Bucky asked skeptically.

“Oh, yeah,” Steve assured.  “May take it a little slower, but my asthma isn’t that bad.  The meds’ll be enough to get me through the rest of my workout.”

“Good to know.”

***

“So, Adonis has asthma,” Bucky told his roommate as he collapsed on the sofa after his run.

Sam Wilson looked up from his laptop.  “Is that a deal breaker, or are you going to continue crushing from afar?”

Bucky stuck his tongue out at Sam before taking a pull at his water bottle.  “His name is Steve,” he finally said.

Sam set the laptop aside with a grin.  “You talked to him?”

“Yeah, a little.”  Bucky couldn’t help a small grin of his own.  “Up close he’s even bigger than I thought.  Nice smile.  Pretty eyes. The longest fucking lashes I’ve ever seen.”

Sam snorted.  “Pretty eyes?  Dude, you’ve got it bad.”  He leaned forward.  “So, did you get his number?”

Bucky made a face.  “Nah, it was nothing like that.  I saw him having an asthma attack and stopped to help.  Once he was over it, we jogged together for a bit.  I really didn’t get anything other than his name.”

“Well, now that you know his name, you should ask him to spot you when you see him at the gym,” Sam suggested.

“Yeah, because he’s going to jump at working out with a one armed wonder,” Bucky groused.

“Bucky – “ Sam started.

Bucky jumped up from the couch.  “I’ve got to grab a shower if we’re going to make it to group on time.”

“Stop being a coward, Barnes!” Sam called after him.

***

Steve dropped his gym bag on the floor and slid into the booth opposite his friend Peggy Carter.

“You’re late,” She stated eyes narrowing.  “And also looking very pleased with yourself.  What did you do?”

“Hi, Peg!  I’m fine, thanks for asking.  How’s Angie?” Steve responded trying to look innocent.

“Don’t give me that look, Rogers,” Peggy said leaning forward.  “Please tell me I’m not going to have to scare up bail money when you get caught.”

Steve rolled his eyes, but before he could answer the waitress stepped up.  They gave her their drink orders and then Steve waited until she walked away before answering.

“So, yesterday I had an asthma attack when I went out for my morning run,” he started as he looked over the menu.

“Steve!  Did you have your inhaler?”

“I did, but I dropped it when I pulled it out of my pocket and another jogger grabbed it for me,” Steve said.  “Brunet, blue eyes, one arm...”

Peggy smiled.  “That man you’ve been drooling over since he showed up last December?”

“His name is Bucky,” Steve informed her smugly.  “And today, when I saw him at the gym I walked up and said hi.”

Peggy giggled.  “Did you stutter or blush or both?”

“I was very suave, I’ll have you know,” Steve protested.  “And he smiled at me and then asked if I’d spot him on free weights.”

The waitress showed back up with their drinks, so the conversation was put on hold while they gave her their lunch orders.  Once she left, Peggy propped her chin on one hand and grinned at Steve.

“All right, Rogers, I want details.  Down to how nice he smells when he sweats.”

***

“Okay, Barnes, pick a style,” Tony Stark said while handing Bucky a tablet.

“What?” Bucky asked looking confused.

“What do you want the arm to look like?” Tony asked sitting on the exam table besides Bucky so he could direct the younger man’s attention to the tablet.  He began swiping through the various pictures on the screen.  “Do you want it to look natural?  Mechanical?  Steampunk?  Dragon scales?  How would you like to express yourself to the world?”

“Oh,” Bucky replied as he looked over his options.  “I didn’t really think about the aesthetics of the thing.  I just want a working arm.”

“And you will have a working arm,” Tony assured.  “But there is no reason for it to be boring unless you just want it to be.”

Bucky sat the tablet in his lap so he could flip through the pictures himself, finally stopping on one that looked like it was covered in metal plates.  “This looks like it was taken from a comic book.”

“Because it was taken from a comic book,” Tony explained.  “I know the artist who writes and draws the Captain America comics and he gave me permission to offer this as an option.”

“You know SG Rogers?” Bucky said with a smile.  “That dude is talented as fuck.”  He looked back at the picture on the tablet.  “Yeah, I want this one.”

The men looked up as the door to the room opened.

“Dr. Cho!” Tony called out in greeting.  “We’re making a Winter Soldier!”

***

“Steve!  Come in!” Pepper Potts tugged the big blond man through her front door and gave him a hug.

“Hi, Pepper,” Steve said, hugging her back.  “Thanks for asking me over tonight.”

“Yay! Another dick!”  Tony cheered as Steve stepped into the living room.  “We need more male friends, Steve.  The estrogen levels in here are getting dangerous.  Martini?”

Peggy rolled her eyes as she stood up from the sofa to give Steve a hug.  “But Steve is gay.  Doesn’t that mean he counts for our side?”

“Yes, to martini; no to counting on the women’s side,” Steve said as he turned to hug Peggy’s wife Angie Martinelli.

“Yeah, English,” Angie agreed grinning up at Steve.  “Brooklyn here is about as cis male as you can get, even if he does look fabulous in make-up.”

Steve let out a huff as he accepted his drink from Tony.  “You do drag one time and they never let you forget it.”

“They’re just jealous,” Tony sympathized.  “You’ve got nicer eyelashes than any of them even without the mascara.”

Pepper smiled at her boyfriend as she accepted her own drink.  “Be nice, Tony, or I won’t invite you to come with me the next time I go for a mani/pedi.”

“Cruel woman,” Tony said with a mock frown.  “See, Steve? Dangerous levels.  We need to talk about sportsball or something to make up for it.”

Steve laughed as he sat on the couch next to Peggy.  “The only sport you like is baseball and I’m pretty sure you’re more interested in all the statistics than in actually watching it.”

“Lies!” Tony declared as he settled on the loveseat with Pepper.  “And here I was planning on taking care of your dating woes.”

Pepper perked up at that.  “Are we playing matchmaker again?”

“No, you are not playing matchmaker again,” Steve stated firmly.  “I don’t need help getting dates.”

“Really?” Scoffed Tony.  “When was the last time you even talked to a guy you were interested in?”

“Yesterday morning,” Peggy said coming to Steve’s defense.  “He finally spoke to the guy at the gym that he’s been mooning after.”

“Oh, good for you, Brooklyn!” Angie exclaimed leaning forward so she could see him around her wife.  “So, when are you going out?”

“Okay, first off, I’ve not been mooning,” Steve said frowning at Peggy.  “And, well, I didn’t actually ask him on a date. We just worked out together.”

“That’s at least a first step,” Pepper said setting her empty glass on the coffee table.  “It’s okay, Steve.  We’ll be more than happy to coach you through this.”

“And if he turns out to be straight, then we have a backup plan,” Tony agreed.

“Great.”  Steve sighed and took a large swallow of his drink.

***

Bucky turned at the sound of his name to see Steve coming down the sidewalk through the rain.  He was carrying his gym back and a huge umbrella.

“Hey, Steve,” Bucky said smiling.  “Where did you find an umbrella big enough for your ridiculous shoulders?”

“It’s a golf umbrella,” Steve explained rolling his eyes.  He sidled up to Bucky so that both of them were covered from the rain. “What are you doing walking in the rain _without_ an umbrella?”

“I’ve a waterproof hat and a waterproof jacket,” Bucky replied with a shrug.  “Umbrella’s can be awkward with only one hand.”

“Oh,” Steve said quietly.  “Sorry.  I didn’t even think – “

“Nah, don’t,” Bucky cut him off.  “It’s not something one would think about.  I sure as hell didn’t before it became my life.  So, do you golf?”

“Sometimes,” Steve said accepting the change of topic.  “Mostly I have friends who golf and they drag me along on occasion.  I’m not very good at it, but it gets me out of the house.  And they let me drive the golf cart which is the best part.”

They grinned at each other and then walked in silence for a moment.  Finally Steve said, “So, you weren’t at the gym yesterday.  Everything okay?”

“Oh, yeah,” Bucky assured.  “I had an appointment so switched my gym time to the afternoon.”

He debated about saying more, but wasn’t sure that he knew Steve well enough to tell him about volunteering to be a guinea pig for an experimental arm.  Still, Steve had missed him and he didn’t want to worry his new friend.

“So, I have a surgery coming up.  Nothing bad!” he rushed to assure the blond.  “But I won’t be at the gym next week for sure and I don’t know what kind of exercising the doc’s going to let me do after that while I’m healing up.  I just…so you know if you don’t see me for a while.”

“Oh,” Steve replied.  “Well…maybe we could – “

Bucky never heard what Steve thought they could do.  An extremely loud noise to his left sent his heart racing and shorted out his ability to think.  Flight instinct kicked in.

Through the thundering of his heartbeat he heard his name repeated several times.  Eventually he recognized the voice.  Steve.  What was Steve doing here?  Where was here?

“Bucky!  It’s okay!  You’re in Brooklyn.  You’re safe.  You need to slow your breathing before you hyperventilate.

He really wanted to believe Steve.  His attention was caught by a brightly colored blob.  He tried to concentrate on that while figuring out where he was.  His back and bad shoulder were pressing up against something hard.  He was panting.  Steve was still talking calmly to him and asking him to breathe slower.  Bucky dragged his eyes away from the bright colors until the found Steve’s.

“There you are!” Steve said with a smile.  “Come on; breathe with me.  1…2…3…”

Bucky did as instructed and gradually his breathing and heart beat came back to normal.  He realized he was curled up in a doorway with Steve knelt before him getting soaked in the rain.

“S-sorry,” he finally said.

Steve shook his head. “What are you apologizing for?”

“You’re wet,” Bucky muttered.

“It’s okay,” Steve assured helping him stand up.  “Does that happen a lot?”

“No.” Bucky shook his head.  “Maybe once a month or so?  Not like when I first got out.  Sorry, I know it can be scary.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Steve said handing Bucky his gym bag.  “You still going to the gym or...?”

“No, I...I think home,” Bucky replied.  He looked up at Steve, tapped his own chest, and tried to joke.  “At least I got my cardio in for the day.”

Steve gave Bucky an encouraging smile.  “Probably more than you needed,” he agreed.

As Steve picked up his umbrella and his own gym bag, Bucky realized what had caught his attention as he was coming out of the panic attack – a rainbow Pride patch sewn onto Steve’s bag.  He found himself smiling as he pulled his phone out of the inside pocket of his jacket.

“Give me your number?” he requested.  “I’ll text you when I get home, so you know I’m okay, since you....”

“Yeah.”  The smile he got from Steve made him think that maybe this could be headed toward more than friendship.

***

Steve sat up from where he’d been hunched over his drawing table.  He arched back and then took a second to pop his neck before looking up at the clock.  He looked over what he’d just finished up and decided he was done for the day.   He’d had a pretty good flow going and would make his deadline easily.

He was debating ideas for dinner his phone beeped.  Steve snatched it up as he and Bucky had been texting quite a bit over the last three days.  Instead of a text from Bucky, he had one from Tony.

 _Royalty check is in the mail._ Accompanied by a photo of a real life Winter Soldier arm.

 _Holy Shit!  That looks amazing!_  Steve texted back.

Seconds later the phone actually rang.

“Hey, Tony,” Steve said when he answered.  “Is someone going to be getting that?”

“Oh, yeah,” Tony replied.  “The guy I was going to hook you up with until you decided to grow a pair and ask that other dude out.  You did ask him out, right?”

“Uhm, kinda?” Steve said glad that Tony couldn’t see his face.  “He’s got a thing this week, but we’re going to try to get together for coffee once he’s back home.”

“Coffee’s good,” Tony responded.  “That’s a standard first step for you youngsters, right?  So, he’s gay?”

“I think so?”  Steve sighed.  “We’ve been flirting a lot through text.  At least I think he’s flirting.”

“Oh, Steven. Steven,” Tony tutted.  “When are you going to realize that you’re pretty enough to make even straight men think twice?”

“Whatever,” Steve muttered.

“Yeah, sure, whatever.”  Steve could practically hear Tony rolling his eyes.  “So, if it doesn’t work out, let me know and I’ll introduce you to Sgt. Barnes.  Actually, if you’re cool with it, I’d like you to meet him anyway.  James is a good guy and a fan boy and it might be good for his morale.”

“Sure,” Steve agreed.  “Provided you promise not to hint at anything else.”

“Weeeell, okay. But only because Pepper wants to see if you can catch that Bucky guy on your own.”

***

“How’s the pain levels?” Dr. Cho asked as she removed the bandages from his shoulder.

“Uhmm, one?  Maybe one and a half?  Feels more sore than anything,” Bucky replied.  It had been five days since his operation.  They’d had to remove what was left of his upper arm and installed a metal cap over the shoulder.  The new arm would plug into that and could be removed for maintenance and upgrades.

Dr. Cho smiled at him.  “You’re healing up really well and a lot faster than I’d expected.  Tony’s been chomping at the bit to put the arm on you.  Are you ready?”

“Really?  Sure!” Bucky replied enthusiastically.  After all the testing and therapy he was more than ready to actually try it out.

The doctor called Tony on the intercom and then  pulled a machine out of the corner and up to Bucky’s bed.  “We’re going to hook you up to the EEG so we can track how your brain reacts to the new input.”

“Okay, makes sense,” he said as she started glueing electrodes to his head.

A few minutes later Tony arrived with a cloth covered rolling table.

“Hey, Sarge, ready for a test run?” Tony asked as he arranged the table to sit up close to Bucky’s left side.

“Hey, Tony! You have no idea how ready I am for this,” Bucky replied. He watched in anticipation as the engineer adjusted the table as close to Bucky’s shoulder as possible.  The cloth was removed to reveal a gleaming metal arm.  Bucky thought it looked even cooler than the one in the comics.

“We can’t plug it in directly,” Tony explained as he attached a short cable into the arm, “because Dr. Cho doesn’t want the weight on your shoulder yet.  But, if everything went according to plan, you’ll be able to feel and move it as if it were.”  He plugged the other end of the cable into the shoulder socket and then pulled out a tool and flipped open one of the plates on what would be Bucky’s underarm. “Ready?”

Bucky nodded enthusiastically, but then Tony frowned.

“You might want to close your eyes at first,” the older man said.  “It’ll probably be easier for your brain to accept the arm, if it’s not trying to reconcile visual and physical input.”

“Okay.” Bucky nodded and closed his eyes.  He heard the soft sound of a switch and then suddenly, he could feel his left arm again.  

“Fuck,” he breathed out, keeping his eyes shut tight.  He made a fist and heard quiet mechanical noises as his fingers came together.  He could _feel_ the table under his arm.

“Good start,” Tony said.  “Spread your fingers out.”

Bucky did keeping his eyes firmly shut.

“That’s good.  Very good.”  Bucky could almost feel the anticipation. “Okay, when I tell you that I’m still better looking than you, what is your response.”

Bucky laughed and shot Tony the finger.

“Amazing!” Dr. Cho exclaimed examining the readout on the EEG.  “Your brain seems to be accepting the input like it would with your natural arm.  I really didn’t expect you to be able to adapt this fast.”

Bucky opened his eyes.  He looked down at the arm, which was still displaying the middle finger.  He opened his hand and then wiggled his fingers.  The arm rocked slightly, which was a little disconcerting.  He looked back and forth between the doctor and the engineer.

“I can feel it.”  He could feel his eyes stinging as he tried to not cry.  “I have two arms again.”

They both smiled before Dr. Cho said, “Unfortunately, you’re not healed enough to wear it yet. But I’d say we give it another day or so and we should be able to  plug it in and start working on your long term care.”

“Okay.”  Bucky looked back at the arm and wiggled his fingers again.  He could feel laughter bubbling up inside him.  “Yeah, whatever it takes. I’m ready to test this baby as far as it will go.”

***

Steve followed Tony through a pair of doors marked Physical Rehabilitation.  

“You are going to be blown away,” the millionaire was saying.  “The arm looks just incredible and  Barnes has taken to using it like a duck takes to water.”

“So, is he that good with it because of design or ability?” Steve asked.  He was really looking forward to seeing his art turned into reality.

“Well, of course I’m going to say design,” Tony replied with a smirk, “But really, we won’t know for sure until a few more of the volunteers go through with the surgery.  One person does not a good statistical sample make.” Tony stepped through another doorway and called out, “Hey, Sarge!  I’ve got someone for you to meet.”

Steve followed Tony into the room just as a well built man with a metal looking arm turned away from a rack of weights to face them.

“Bucky?”

“Steve!  What the hell are you doing here?”  Bucky responded with a smile.

“Bucky?” Tony asked as he looked confusedly between the two of them.  “His first name is Sergeant!”

Bucky rolled his eyes at the older man.  “My first name is _James._  But my middle name is Buchanan and the family ended up calling me Bucky because we knew so many Jameses.”  

“And I’m just now finding this out?” Tony pouted.  “I’m hurt.”

“Tony - ,” Steve started.

“No, don’t try to comfort me Steven Grant.  I’m going to go be butt hurt in the hallway while you tell your boyfriend how good he looks in my tech.”

“He’s not my - “  “I’m not his - “

“Nope!”  Tony held up his hands at their protests.  “Don’t care.  You’ll work it out.  I’m going to go out there to pout and/or call Pepper to gossip.”  He pointed a finger at Steve and then swung it over to point at Bucky.  “SG Rogers meet Sgt. James Barnes.  Talk.”  With that, he turned on his heel and stalked off.

“Holy cow!” Bucky exclaimed once the door was closed.  “Can he be more of a drama queen?”

“Yes.  Yes, he can,” Steve answered grinning at the brunet.  “So, this was the surgery you were talking about?”

“Yeah.”  Bucky raised his left hand and wiggled his fingers at Steve.  “Pretty cool, huh?”

Steve felt an odd flutter in his chest.  “You’re wearing my design.”

“Uhm, yeah. Looks like,” Bucky mumbled as a blush took over his features.  He took a deep breath.  “So, we were going to go for coffee after I recovered enough.  There’s a Starbucks in the lobby.  Interested?”

“Definitely,” Steve said with a smile.

“Okay!”  Bucky grinned back.  “So...uh..Just give me a few minutes to clean up.”  He waved a hand vaguely at his tank top and sweats.

“Sure.”  Steve’s smile got bigger as Bucky stumbled back a few steps just missing the weights, before turning and heading through a door opposite the one to the hallway.

“So, I call best man,” Tony suddenly said from beside Steve.

“That’s getting a bit ahead of the situation, don’t you think?” Steve asked turning to his friend.

“I’m a futurist; it’s what we do,” Tony explained grinning at Steve.

“Well, then you’ll probably have to fight Peggy for the position,” Steve replied with some amusement.

“Okay, fine.  I get to walk you down the aisle instead.”

Steve laughed.  “Okay, Tony.  But that means you have to pay for the wedding.”

“Done.”

***

They had been running for about 15 minutes when Bucky reached out with his left hand and gripped Steve’s upper arm.  “Hold up.”

“You okay?” Steve asked as he stopped.

“Yeah, just…”  Bucky frowned at Steve and then moved back a couple of paces.  “Take one long step forward.”

Steve furrowed his brows.  “Bucky?”

“Please, Stevie?” Bucky asked doing his best doe eyes.

“That doesn’t work with me,” Steve stated even as he took the requested step forward.

“Yeah, okay,” Bucky readily agreed.  He looked his boyfriend over and nodded.  “Perfect.”

“What’s perfect, Buck?” Steve asked with an amused look on his face.

“Okay, so, one year ago today, you were on this exact spot dying, when I finally got up the nerve to speak to you,” Bucky answered with a grin.

Steve rolled his eyes but grinned back as he said, “I wasn’t dying.  I was having an asthma attack.  I would have been fine.”

“Of course, Stevie.”  Bucky nodded trying to look serious.  “You were just gasping so hard you dropped your inhaler and I had to rescue you.”

Steve gave a weary sigh and started to move toward Bucky.

“No!  Don’t move yet!” Bucky shouted, waving his hands at Steve.

“Fine.”  Steve stopped and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Okay, so I need you to bend over and put your hands on your knees like you’re trying to catch your breath,” Bucky directed.

Steve narrowed his eyes at Bucky a moment, but, finally, the blond did as requested.  “Now what?”

“Now,” Bucky said miming reaching for the inhaler, “I do this.” and presented Steve with a black velvet box.

“Bucky?” Steve looked up at him in surprise.

“You’re supposed to take it, Steve,” Bucky assured him.

Steve took the box and opened it, to reveal a ring made of twisted white and yellow gold.  

“So, I was wondering,” Bucky said quietly, “if I could continue my morning jog with my fiance.”  

Steve’s face lit up and he looked at Bucky with damp eyes.  A moment later he pulled the brunet into a deep and passionate kiss.  

“I love you,” Steve murmured against Bucky’s lips. “And I think running with my fiance sounds great.” He stepped back and nodded toward the path. “Shall we?”

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Never feel afraid to comment on my fics - I need more AO3 notifications in my inbox in order to justify my existence.
> 
> I am Pheylan13 on Tumblr and you are always welcome to come see me flail about Marvel, cats, bobbleheads, and Pokemon Go.


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